Joo Jin-mo (actor, born 1974)

Background

Born in Seoul, South Korea as Park Jin-tae, he borrowed his manager's name "Joo Jin-mo" for his stage name when he began his acting career.

Career

After appearing in TV dramas and some minor roles in film, Joo was first cast as a lead in Dance Dance in 1999, for which he underwent extensive dance training. Although the film itself did not perform well, it gave Joo some publicity before he broke through with the box-office and critical hit Happy End. His role as a spurned lover in this psycho-drama attracted considerable notice in Korea, and the film itself also traveled to Hong Kong.

After taking the lead in Kim Ki-duk's mildly experimental Real Fiction (which was shot in 3.5 hours without any retakes), Joo took a major role in the much-hyped Musa, set in 14th-century China and starring Zhang Ziyi from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He also acted in Wanee & Junah, a melodrama about a screenwriter and an animator opposite Kim Hee-sun.

After some films he had been cast in were cancelled due to lack of financing, Joo did the 2003 boxing drama Punch with Shin Min-a, then returned to the big screen in 2004, in the comedy Liar based on the play Run for Your Wife by Ray Cooney.

From 2004 to early 2005, Joo filmed the epic wuxia historical drama Bichunmoo ("Dance in the Sky"), but due to copyright issues with Korean broadcasters, it aired first in China and Taiwan in 2006. It was finally shown on Korean television in 2008, though SBS edited down the original 33 episodes into 14.

Meanwhile, Joo and Lee Yo-won's 2005 TV series Fashion 70's received good ratings of 30%. In 2006 he starred in Puzzle about a bank robbery gone wrong, and opposite Kim Ah-joong in the hugely popular romantic comedy 200 Pounds Beauty. The Kwak Kyung-taek gangster romance A Love co-starring Park Si-yeon followed in 2007.

A Frozen Flower, Yoo Ha's controversial 2008 film which revolved around the love triangle between a homosexual Goryeo king (Joo), his queen (Song Ji-hyo), and the royal guard (Zo In-sung) they're both in love with, won Joo his first Best Actor trophy at the 45th Baeksang Arts Awards.

He played a sports agent to a K-1 fighter in the 2009 TV series Dream, but it received low ratings for sharing the same timeslot as Queen Seondeok. The year after, Joo and Hallyu star Song Seung-heon appeared in A Better Tomorrow, the 2010 Korean remake of John Woo's classic Hong Kong noir film. Joo was ranked fourth in CNNGo's "South Korea's Top 20 Hottest Male Celebs."

Joo first sang "Like Rain, Like Music" by late singer Kim Hyun-sik during his first fan meeting in Japan at the Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo. He later released his cover of "Like Rain, Like Music" as a digital single in September 2011. Joo also starred in the accompanying music video with Go Joon-hee.

In 2012's Gabi (the antiquated local term for "coffee"), Joo played a late 19th-century international con man who becomes embroiled in the espionage and political conspiracy surrounding King Gojong. In making the role his own, Joo said he enjoyed the depth of his participation in the creative process with director Chang Yoon-hyun.

Joo and Ruby Lin starred in the 42-episode Chinese TV drama Flowers in Fog based on the novel by Qiong Yao (the title 花非花雾非雾 literally translates to "Flower is Not Flower, Fog is Not Fog"). It was shot in France, and aired on Hunan TV in 2013. He then returned to the Goryeo era to play a fictional character based on King Chunghye in Empress Ki, a historical drama with Ha Ji-won in the title role.

On the big screen, Joo reunited with director Kwak Kyung-taek for Friend: The Great Legacy, the sequel to the 2001 hit film. Joo plays a gangster in 1963, the father of Yoo Oh-sung's character in the original movie.

Jo made his theater debut in a 2015 staging of the musical Gone with the Wind, adapted from Margaret Mitchell's novel. Joo said, "Rhett Butler is a character every actor would dream to play." This was followed by melodrama series This is My Love with Kim Sa-rang (actress) on cable channel jTBC.

In November 2016, Joo signed with new management agency Huayi Brothers. He next played in the series Woman with a Suitcase, followed by Bad Guys 2 in 2017, and Big Issue in 2019.

On January 3, 2022, it was reported that Joo had terminated his contract with Studio Santa Claus Entertainment.

Personal life

Joo married doctor Min Hye-yeon on June 1, 2019, in Jeju Island. Min is a Seoul National University graduate who specializes in family medicine. She has appeared on various health-related TV programs, in which she gained popularity and often dubbed as "Kim Tae-hee of the medical world."

Legal case

In January 2020, Joo revealed that he was a victim of phone hacking and was being blackmailed after several personal messages shared between Joo and his close actor friend appeared on an online community board on January 10, 2020. The messages allegedly included pictures of women and vulgar comments made by the two men about the women in the pictures. Joo's agency has reported the case to authorities. Investigation is ongoing. He also apologized to the women mentioned in the messages.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Theater

Discography

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. He shares a name with another actor. [[Joo Jin-mo (actor, born 1958). Joo Jin-mo]] (born 26 February 1958) creating some confusion over the actors' projects as listed in the [[IMDb]].
2. Han, Sang-hee. (11 December 2007). "How Stars Create Their Names".
3. Paquet, Darcy. "Actors and Actresses of Korean Cinema: Joo Jin-mo". Koreanfilm.org.
4. Chun, Su-jin. (5 September 2011). "Without a Fighting Chance". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
5. Cho, Ines. (18 March 2002). "In France, the shows go on and on...". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
6. Kwon, Mee-yoo. (10 February 2008). "Dramas Adapt New Way of Production". [[The Korea Times]].
7. (31 January 2008). "Previously-made drama, ''Bichunmoo'' is finally on-air 1st February after so many complications". [[Hancinema]].
8. (25 November 2005). "KOREAN TV DRAMA REVIEWS: 패션 70s (Fashion Seventies)". [[Twitch Film]].
9. Paquet, Darcy. "200 Pounds Beauty". Koreanfilm.org.
10. Lee, Hoo-nam. (19 September 2007). "Gangsters in love and actors who diet create a comeback". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
11. Lee, Hyo-won. (20 September 2007). "Films to Catch During Chuseok". [[The Korea Times]].
12. Yang, Sung-jin. (4 April 2010). "''Ssanghwajeom'' barely avoids trap". [[The Korea Herald]].
13. Song, Won-seop. (10 January 2009). "Homosexuality in history". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
14. Paquet, Darcy. (6 August 2012). "Frozen Flower". Koreanfilm.org.
15. Han, Sang-hee. (27 July 2009). "Dream to Depict the World of Sports Business". [[The Korea Times]].
16. Lee, Ho-jeong. (20 August 2009). "Silla queen holds audiences spellbound". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
17. Lee, Hyo-won. (17 August 2010). "Tomorrow remake to bring macho drama". [[The Korea Times]].
18. Lee, Ji-hye. (9 September 2010). "Song Seung-heon ''Invincible'' will be "lucky to break even"". 10Asia.
19. (6 July 2010). "Jang Dong-gun Tops CNN's List of Korea's Hottest Male Stars". [[The Chosun Ilbo]].
20. Hicap, Jonathan. (5 July 2010). "CNN Go names top 20 Korean male stars". [[Manila Bulletin]].
21. Kim, Jessica. (26 July 2011). "Joo Jin-mo holds fan meeting in Japan". 10Asia.
22. Ko, Kyoung-seok. (7 September 2011). "Joo Jin-mo to release digital single this week". 10Asia.
23. (21 January 2012). "Actress Go Jun-hee dismisses rumors of dating actor Ju Jin-mo". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
24. Kim, Heidi. (24 March 2011). "New historical film ''Coffee'' to crank in next week". 10Asia.
25. Kwaak, Je-yup. (21 February 2012). "''Gabi'': East-meets-West thriller on Joseon Kingdom's first coffee". [[The Korea Times]].
26. Kwaak, Je-yup. (13 March 2012). "Heartthrob determined to go beyond his image". [[The Korea Times]].
27. Sunwoo, Carla. (13 June 2012). "Joo Jin-mo to star in Chinese drama". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
28. Oh, Jean. (24 October 2013). "Ha Ji-won back in ''The Empress Ki''". [[The Korea Herald]].
29. An, So-hyoun. (27 March 2013). "Ju Jin Mo to Return to Film with ''Friend 2''". CJ E&M.
30. Lee, Sun-min. (28 March 2013). "Ju Jin-mo pumped for ''Friend'' sequel". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
31. Lee, Eun-sun. (13 May 2013). "Shooting of FRIEND 2 Begins". Korean Film Council.
32. Lee, Sun-young. (10 November 2014). "Seohyun to star in musical ''Gone with the Wind''".
33. Ghim, Sora. (4 May 2015). "''My Love Eun Dong''. Releases Its First Teaser".
34. Kim, Myeong-mi. (29 November 2016). "주진모, 화이브라더스와 전속계약..김윤석 유해진과 한솥밥(공식입장)". Newsen.
35. Wo Se-na. (January 5, 2022). "사생활 논란' 주진모, 소속사 계약 종료…새 소속사와 컴백 시동?[TF확대경]". The Fact.
36. (2019-01-14). "Actor Joo Jin-mo dating doctor". [[The Korea Times]].
37. (January 12, 2020). "[Newsmaker] Hacking of top celebrities prompts rumors, warnings". [[The Korea Herald]].
38. (January 17, 2020). "Joo Jin-mo is sorry for leaked texts". [[Korea Joongang Daily]].
39. "주진모, SBS 미니시리즈 '빅이슈' 출연 확정 "파파라치 사진기자 역"". [[Busan Ilbo]].
40. (8 September 2011). "Mnet's Pick: 주진모의 '비처럼 음악처럼' 리메이크곡 출시".
41. Ham, Na-yan. (January 1, 2020). "[2019 SBS 연기대상] 이승기 최우수상 "이 상은 '배가본드'가 받은 상". Sports DongA.